Former Leeds United Academy graduate Jack Clarke has certainly had a mixed start to life at Tottenham Hotspur following his £8.5million move to White Hart Lane at the start of the 2019/20 campaign.
The 19-year-old resisted the chance to join Manchester City and get bogged down in their youth system, and instead made the move to us believing (in time) he’d have a better chance of seeing a pathway through to the first team but with a disappointing spell back at Elland Road in the first half of the year, his time at Queens Park Rangers and Loftus Road hasn’t gone much better in terms of game time – but of course – the current lull in the fixture list hasn’t helped on that front.
Is It Too Soon To Write Clarke Off?
Yes, Needs A Chance
No, Pointless Signing With His Game Time
There will be those quick to write him off, and those willing to see him get back to his normal performance levels, but former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan believes it’s now time for Spurs to cut their losses and get some of the cash back and he’s convinced the talent is not going to make it at our level.
“We’ve seen Jack Clarke go back to Tottenham where I don’t think he’s going to be a Tottenham player, I don’t. I think he’ll be shipped off to a Championship club at some point because he’s not proving that he can live up to the hype. He’s not doing it at QPR, they’ve been frustrated with his performances. Is he going to take Lamela’s place, is he going to take Sissoko’s place, is he going to take Heung-min Son’s place? No, he’s just not.”
Whelan’s right in terms of him not exactly ripping up trees in his loan spells since we signed him, and yes, he’s certainly not going to replace Lamela, Sissoko or Sonny at this moment in time, but it’s not unfair to say the choice of Sissoko in that mini-rant is a bit bizarre as a criticism – Whelan might well have said he won’t replace Hugo Lloris in goal, as that’s not his position for a start.
There’s no denying Clarke has been disappointing so far, but he hasn’t suddenly lost his talent and Whelan has long held the opinion he shouldn’t have left Leeds – so there’s a huge element of sour grapes here and somewhat wanting the youngster to fail.
Spurs stick with youngsters and punts for more than 12 months, knowing it takes time, rather that the reactionary Whelan outlook here I’d expect us to give Clarke time as well. The rest is then down to him.
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